


if the world was ending

by AJMinatozaki



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24572707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJMinatozaki/pseuds/AJMinatozaki
Summary: When Kim Dahyun woke up that day, she was only expecting a hangover while staring idly at her ceiling the entire day.What she didn't expect is getting a frantic call telling her to find her ex, Yoo Jeongyeon.Or else.
Relationships: Kim Dahyun/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	if the world was ending

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second work in the collection of oneshots made for Once Creative Circle's monthly project, with June's theme: The Elements

“D-hy-n! C-n you he- -e?!” Brushing off the stray strands of her blonde locks from her face, Dahyun grimaces at the choppy voice from the other line. She yawns before begrudgingly peeling herself off from her bed with a grunt, and makes her away across her small dorm room.

“-EL-O?!” The cellular service in their area had been pretty shitty these past couple of days, so the girl heads for their small balcony to get better service. She glances at the other side of the room where her roommate, Gahyeon, sleeps and finds her bed empty.

Dahyun simply thinks the girl must have slept over at her girlfriend’s again.

She lets out another yawn while opening the door leading out to the balcony, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she leans the back of her hips on the chipped iron railing.

“Fuck! Kim Dahyun, please tell me you can hear me!” The frustration on the other person’s voice seemed to help wake Dahyun up completely from her groggy state.

“Woah woah woah, language!” The girl says, half-jokingly. “What’s gotten you in such a mood? And here I thought you got the morning person genes in the family.”

“This is not a time for jokes, Dahyun. Listen carefully because we don’t have much time.”

Tersely wrapping her free arm around her torso to shield her from the chilly morning air, Dahyun perks up at the tone being used on her at the moment. Sure, her and Namjoon weren’t really close to begin with; the siblings being characteristically polar opposites of each other just to add onto their wide age gap, but that only makes the younger girl take what little interaction they have, seriously.

“Namjoon, what’s wrong?” She asks, more serious this time.

She hears people talking in the background and some shuffling before things quieted down. She’s assuming he found a quieter place to talk.

“Dahyun, I need you to grab whatever you can and get the hell out of the city; drive up to the southern pier if you can and I’ll meet you there. And please do it fast. I tried contacting mom and dad but I still haven’t gotten any luck reaching them. I don’t know if they got out in time or if the cell towers in their area are already down...” Confusion and worry washes over Dahyun.

She doesn’t really know much about what Namjoon did for a living; only that he did some confidential work for the government. He was usually gone for most of the year and would even skip out family events, like her birthday. He’d always been the academic genius between the two of them anyway.

Dahyun sighs, not understanding why she needs to flee.

“What the hell is going on? You’re not really making any sense.” But she somehow feels that inkling that something is definitely wrong. 

“Dahyun, I told you we don’t have much time! Please, I need you to get out of there and I need you to find and contact Yoo Jeongyeon for me. It’s important if we all want to get out of this mess alive.”

Jeongyeon.

Now, that’s a name she hasn’t heard in six months. The last memory Dahyun has of the woman is of her turning her back on her and walking away after telling Dahyun they were through, out of nowhere.

But before that, Dahyun and Jeongyeon had been dating for nearly a year; the two met up through a common friend at a college party. The blonde had been a freshman back then and was eager to experience everything college had to offer. She’d expected music, drinking and maybe even getting a bit high.

But she never expected Yoo Jeongyeon.

Tall, strikingly beautiful with her long dark brown hair and thin-rimmed silver glasses, a cheeky smile on her face as she was introduced by Son Chaeyoung, a childhood friend who got into the same university as her, who also invited her to this party. The two had spent nearly the entire night just chatting and exchanging weird facts and corny jokes with each other before Jeongyeon had offered to walk her back to her dorm room and actually asked her out on a date.

Which was soon followed by more dates after the first one.

Dahyun’s reminiscing was cut short by the fact that her older brother, who she haven’t even introduced Jeongyeon to, is asking for her.

“What are yo- how do you even know her and what does she have to do with any this?”

“Look, I promise I’ll explain later. But please, you have to go now and take Jeongyeon with you.” His voice sounded anxious; the first time Dahyun has heard so in her entire life. 

“If she asks, tell her that RM from Project Zeus needs Hera.” That was a weird request, but she already figured it was some sort of code.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.” Dahyun responds, her mind whirring with more questions now.

“Drive safe. Oh and Dahyun?” The girl stills, her eyes trained on what looks like a brewing storm from a distance as Namjoon calls out for her; his voice dripping with desperation.

“Hurry.”

\---

This is Dahyun’s third stop in the last two hours.

She tried calling Jeongyeon’s old number and wasn’t surprised to find it already disconnected. Driving around the older girl’s neighborhood in her pickup truck, Dahyun dials Chaeyoung’s number next.

“Sorry bro, I don’t have any contact with her anymore.” Chaeyoung says, sounding somewhat preoccupied. Dahyun hears some shuffling in the background and another voice, a woman, telling Chaeyoung to get off the phone and help her move something.

“Well, do you know anyone who might have it?” The blonde quickly asks, wanting to get out of her friend’s hair already.

“I-I’m sorry, I really don’t know anymore. It’s like she dropped off the face of the earth after you two split-“

“Chaeng! We need to leave, now!” The same antsy voice from earlier says, louder this time.

“Dude, I gotta go. I’m really sorry.” Click.

Dahyun tuts; she’s not having much luck. She’d already gone to Jeongyeon’s old apartment, the bakery where she used to work in and even the café they used to always have their study dates in. She racks her brain for anything else, glancing at the gray skies above her.

It looks like a bad storm is coming.

She turns on her car stereo, hoping it’ll somehow help her think but is only met by static noises.

That was weird.

Pressing the auto-scan button, the static noises continued in between short pauses until it finally stopped in one particular frequency.

”A series of unforeseen tsunamis has formed at the coasts of Fragum City as we speak. Citizens living in the nearby buildings and homes are currently evacuating and fleeing from the surrounding area. We are now getting reports that residents have started flocking towards Arklay Bridge to cross Fragum City to Persici Province for safety.”

Dahyun nearly slams on the brakes when she remembers that Chaeyoung had told her last Friday that she’s visiting back home for the weekend.

In Fragum City, where her own parents also live.

She panics and decides to dial both her parents’ numbers and then Chaeyoung’s again; all without any answers.

“Fuck.” Dahyun mutters, gripping on her steering wheel harder. Knowing she can’t do much at the moment, she returns her attention to the radio again, turning up the volume this time.

“Following the unexplained extreme heat wave that hit Deus City late last night, which triggered multiple gas lines to explode and torching most of the city, the current situation in Fragum City is added to what seems like a series of unexplained natural disasters happening worldwide since yesterday afternoon.”

Deus City is just two cities north from where Dahyun is now, Alben City.

What the actual hell is going on right now?

Dahyun turns on a corner and decides to park in front of Jeongyeon’s old apartment again to rest and think for a moment. Even after dating for quite a while, she feels like the older girl was still some form of enigma to her; a puzzle she has yet to solve, and never got to when she decided to just up and leave, much to Dahyun’s chagrin.

A flash of light followed by a loud crash breaks Dahyun from her daze, her pickup truck shaking from the impact. She feels herself getting out of her car as she tries to see what had just happened.

Her jaw drops as she sees just a few meters away from where she stood, a large crater that ate up the entire street; its surface steaming with bits of fire strewn all around. Chunks of asphalt are scattered and broke some of the car windows and store fronts near the crater, Dahyun looks back and breathes a small sigh of relief to find her car relatively unharmed.

Everyone around her seems shell-shocked, their eyes searching the skies for whatever it is that made this.

Their questions were answered right away when a very evident sound of crackling made its way in the air; the now darker and grayer clouds above them blocking out the midday sun as flashes of lightning soundlessly happen behind it.

A big flash and that’s when all hell broke loose.

Dahyun will never forget the giant lightning bolt that came out from the sky and hit the highest building in their city, just four blocks away: Twice Tower. The blonde watches in horror as the bolt connected to its very top, shattering all the glass windows that made most of it, followed by its sudden and gruesome collapse.

Everyone began running in different directions, not knowing if and where another lightning bolt would hit and Dahyun feels herself frozen on the spot and trying to remain steady as the ground beneath her rumbled from the still ongoing collapse of the tower, debris free-falling on its surrounding buildings.

Another static crackling fills the air and Dahyun doesn’t register it through the screaming and panicking of everyone around her. A flash of lightning happens, but this time, on the east side of the city, before another bolt strikes on that area.

Feeling her knees turning to jelly, the blonde snaps out of it and begins to scramble to get back in her car but stops when she sees a familiar face looking at her like a deer caught by the headlights from the opposite street.

Yoo Jeongyeon.

\---

“Get in!” Dahyun yells as soon as she revs up her car engine and Jeongyeon nears her pickup truck.

“Buckle up.” The blonde basically commands, the other immediately doing so as soon as she slips into the passenger seat.

“We need to get out of the city.” Jeongyeon says matter-of-factly, her hands clutching her rucksack on her lap and her expression, unreadable.

“Gee, you think?” Dahyun could help but scoff. She’s fully aware that this isn’t the time, but she can’t help it. The girl sitting beside her had left her without any decent explanation, without returning her calls and messages, and just completely disappearing from her life. But she doesn’t ignore the fact that Jeongyeon looks a lot different from six months ago.

Still the same dark brown hair, but now chopped shorter up to her shoulders. Bags under her eyes were evident, as if she hasn’t been sleeping for weeks and her cheeks a little bit more hollowed out. The usual sparkle in her eyes are now gone and replaced by a peculiar emptiness.

“I know you’re still pissed at me, and that’s okay. I had to do what I did.” The older girl says, still not looking at Dahyun. “I can’t tell you why but just know that it’s important and- WATCH OUT!” The car nearly tips over to its side from the sudden swerve that Dahyun did to avoid an incoming SUV that drove into their lane after getting clipped by another lightning bolt.

Dahyun lets out a loud curse as she glances at her rear view mirror and sees the SUV now exploding fully behind them. She steps on the gas and hopes to God she can get them out in one piece.

\---

After a few more minutes, Dahyun has surprisingly managed to dodge most of the cars and people that got in their way. The thunder bolts continued to strike at different parts of the city, destroying and sending most of it into rubble and dirt.

They were nearing the city borders and were about to crossover to the next city, when heavy raindrops started splattering on to the pickups windshield.

“What in the fuck?” The blonde mutters, turning on the windshield wipers.

Dahyun nearly jumps from her seat when the brunette next to her suddenly speaks after a long while.

“Just keep driving, we need to get ahead and get to the next town. Does this still work?” Jeongyeon distractedly asks, pointing at Dahyun’s car stereo.

“Yeah, here.” Dahyun reaches over and voices immediately come out as soon as she turns the radio on.

“This just in: Multiple casualties have been reported in Alben City as a freak thunderstorm had hit the area. Correspondents on site that have fortunately evacuated the city are currently experiencing heavy rains as they cross over to the neighboring town.”

“I knew it. I fucking knew it.” Jeongyeon mumbles under her breath, opening her rucksack and taking out a familiar black laptop that Dahyun often saw the former using.

Dahyun glances at the other girl who was readjusting her glasses on her nose as she waited for laptop to boot up, the rain still loudly splattering outside. It was getting more difficult to drive now, the roads are extra slippery and there’s now a stronger chill entering the car from the outside.

The younger girl has been getting increasingly anxious, not just from the weird things happening around them but also because of the girl beside her. She felt like a total stranger to someone she shared a bed with for nearly a year, and it annoys her to no end.

She wants answers, and she’s getting them now.

Peering through the pouring rain, Dahyun recognizes the highway they were on and figured it was safe to park on the side for a bit. Panicked confusion immediately shows on Jeongyeon’s face as soon as the car stopped.

“What are you doing, Dahyun? We can’t stop, we have to keep driving!” Her eyes are now wild, and Dahyun knows she can’t back down now. Not anymore.

“No. We are not moving until you tell me what the fuck is going on.” She says firmly. The brunette looks at Dahyun as if she just grew another head and removes her glasses in frustration.

“Who are you really, and how do you know my brother?”

Silence.

“What the fuck is Project Zeus and why does RM need Hera?” The last sentence triggers a different expression to come out of Jeongyeon’s face. Dahyun couldn’t place it, but it was something along the lines of relief and surrender. 

Without another word, Jeongyeon quickly types on her laptop before showing the screen to the younger girl.

Dahyun tries to understand what looks like a virtual simulation happening on the screen; tens and thousands of satellites covering Earth and looking like a whole network as it floats in space.

“This is Project Zeus, a satellite network controlled by an artificial intelligence named after the god of the gods himself. Project Zeus has been a top secret project concocted by the world government in order to control the effects of global warming and the thinning of the ozone.”

Jeongyeon presses another button, opening a sequence of videos from all around the world that shows drought, typhoons, blizzards and other natural calamities and disasters that have happened over the last decade.

“This A.I. is the first of its kind and that means it still has its flaws. A lot of it, to be exact.” Dahyun still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea, but she gets the gist.

“So what exactly does this thing do and what does it have to do with you and this RM?”

Jeongyeon looks at her, visibly nibbling on her lower lip; a habit she does when she’s nervous or stressed out.

In this case, she was both. “I don’t know where to start…” 

“Well then start with how you know my brother and why you never told me about it?” Dahyun snaps. She’s had enough of being left in the dark.

“Your brother is one of the scientists that worked on the project along with my older sister, Seungyeon. They represented our country in the project in the coding and structural aspect of it all and have been doing so for years.” The brunette finally says.

“I never really met your brother, but my sister has mentioned him a lot whenever she came home or called me when she could. Inside their facility, the coders used code names in order to identify and tag who did which one did which part of the system. My sister went by the code name, Athena and your brother, RM.” Jeongyeon starts.

“Most of the time, Seungyeon showed me nearly everything they were doing up there and that got me interested in the project and she would even let me draft codes for them sometimes for practice.”

The brunette’s eyes suddenly gloss over as she continued her story. Dahyun knew Jeongyeon is incredibly talented in all the cyber stuff and hacking, but never thought she’s so good that she can draft codes for an A.I.

“Then about six months ago, one of the bigger and more powerful countries wanted to launch Project Zeus already, insisting it was ready when it still had major flaws in its core system. They gave the international team a few months to prep the project for launching and my sister wouldn’t have that. She said that launching now can cause catastrophic events, and well, she was right.” Jeongyeon gestures outside, and Dahyun begins to connect the dots.

The extreme heat wave, the tsunamis, the freak thunderstorm… 

“Project Zeus is created to counteract and neutralize natural disasters using the satellites. Each one is equipped with specially-designed tech that can trigger the natural elements and energies at a press of a button; or in this case, in a snap decision of a very sophisticated A.I.”

The color drains from Dahyun’s face as she realizes the gravity of their situation, and the heaviness of this knowledge being on Jeongyeon’s shoulders all this time. Something kicks in Dahyun and she decides to start up the car and get them on the road.

“Keep going.” She says, eyes focused on the road ahead. She could hear shuffling and the clacking of keys beside her for a moment until the older girl spoke again.

“With that in mind, this A.I. can also cause these calamities and basically wipe us all out of existence. Six months ago, Seungyeon found a bug in the A.I. system that will basically cause a domino effect once it is launched. They told the higher-ups that they have to rewrite the code from scratch, or else they might as well be launching a killer A.I. to control those satellites.”

“I’m guessing that it’s been launched anyway, seeing that we’re here in this situation.” Dahyun breathes, reaching over the windshield in front of her and wiping the mist that had formed on it with her coat’s sleeve.

The brunette sighs, continuing to type on her keyboard.

“A few days before I, you know…”

“Broke up with me out of nowhere?” Dahyun continues, making Jeongyeon grimace.

“Yeah, that.” She mutters. “Seungyeon had called me, telling me to get something she hid in her room back at home and that it was important. She also told me to wait for someone, RM, to request for Hera.” Jeongyeon rummages inside her rucksack and pulls out a small case, she opens it and reveals a white hard drive with the name “Hera” written on it in black marker.

“After that call, my sister disappeared and I started feeling like I was being watched and followed.” The older girl visibly stiffens on her seat. “And I was right. A couple of days later, my mom called and told me they came home to our house ransacked and that all our CCTV footages from our home security system are gone. I was going back to my apartment when I saw these guys in black suits entering and I just knew that I couldn’t go back in there.”

Dahyun remains quiet, mind racing with all the information she’s hearing.

“I thought I would be putting you in danger if I kept hanging around you and if you had any knowledge of what was going on, so I just… I left. I’m sorry, Dahyun.” The younger girl doesn’t know what to say, and so she keeps on driving through the rain.

She doesn’t completely notice the fog that has now formed ahead of them, nor that the chill she is feeling isn’t just from the realization that Jeongyeon didn’t leave her for no reason. She visibly gulps, readjusting her grip on the steering wheel.

“I’ve been trying for months to get into my apartment without anyone seeing me, because I hid this in the vent of my bathroom. I’m just thankful they didn’t find it. And yesterday when I saw the news, I knew that they launched Zeus and that something went terribly wrong. I went back to the apartment today and none of them seemed to be around anymore so I went for it. Shit started happening and now, here we are.” Dahyun could see the older girl fidgeting through her peripheral vision.

She feels the overwhelming urge to hug the other girl to comfort her, but to also yell at her for not trusting her enough to be able to help. She also feels a bit helpless in this entire situation.

Her musings were however interrupted, when she heaves a deep sigh and her breath suddenly becomes visible to her. She slows the car down and proceeds to stop just before the city border a few meters away from them.

Dahyun could hear Jeongyeon gasp beside her when the rain suddenly turned into snow right in front of them, bits of frost dropping on the windshield.

“No, this can’t be. It’s going too fast!” Jeongyeon says in disbelief, returning her gaze on her screen.

“What do you mean ‘it’s going too fast’?”

“The next disaster shouldn’t be for another hour. But what if… what if it’s accelerating its attacks?” Dahyun was about to ask her what she meant when a loud thwacking sound emerged from the sky and a big ball of light dropped to the center of the city.

Not even a few seconds later, the two witnesses a massive cloud of smoke explode on impact and engulf the entire city. Dahyun knew it was only a matter of time before it reaches them so she immediately shifts the gear of her car and begins to turn it away from the borders, she steps on it as she looks on her rear view mirror; the fog and frost nearly catching up to them like an avalanche.

She suddenly feels the older girl’s hand reach for her arm as she drove, its warmth urging Dahyun to step on the accelerator as heavily as she could. The cold and the panic, making her heart beat against her ribcage and she knew Jeongyeon felt the exact same way.

She glances at her rear view mirror once more and sees that the fog hasn’t gone any further and is settling down. So she begins to ease up on her gas pedal but finds her pickup truck still going on the same speed.

“SHIT!” She yells, remembering that the roads were slick now from the rain and the frost. She tries to slam on her brakes but it wasn’t much help. She glances at Jeongyeon who has now closed her eyes as her left hand gripped on Dahyun’s arm, the other on the car door’s handle.

She scans the area in front of her and sees the bit of dirt and grass in the center of the highway. Getting an idea, Dahyun turns the wheel to her right, making the car swerve into the dirt. As soon as they hit the soil, Dahyun slams on her brakes again and feels a tinge of hope as the car does begin to slow down this time.

The pickup finally comes to a halt and Dahyun lets out a loud holler. She can’t believe they were still alive.

She remembers the other still gripping on her arm and she turns to look at her to see if she’s alright, but was met by the older girl unbuckling her seat belt and jumping into her arms, hugging and holding on to her for dear life.

Dahyun could feel Jeongyeon shaking in her arms, sobs racking her entire body as the latter grabbed fistfuls of her shirt. The younger girl wasn’t really the best at showing her feelings, nor was she the type to ever show she was struggling. So she understood just how frustrating it must have been for Jeongyeon to carry all this on her own.

She knew, even back then, that she couldn’t really be totally angry with the brunette. And now, knowing the reason for what she did, it was impossible for Dahyun to not engulf her with a hug. She lets Jeongyeon cry in her chest as she strokes the latter’s back for comfort. They weren’t completely safe yet, but they both needed a break from all this.

When the crying ceases, Jeongyeon removes herself from Dahyun’s embrace; her eyes glossy as she looks at the younger girl apologetically. She didn’t have to say anything, Jeongyeon just knew that Dahyun understood. The younger girl may not be as much of genius as her older brother, but she definitely was the more empathetic one.

“I don’t know about you, but I think we should still cross over the city and get to the pier. Namjoon will be waiting for us there.” Dahyun simply says, making a move to get out of the car and inspect any damages on her car.

She steps out of the vehicle and her eyes immediately land on the city in front of them. Everything was covered in white, as if a gigantic bucket of snow had been poured over it. She turns to look at her car and starts fixing whatever she could.

They have to get to that pier.

\---

The two women are now nearly out of Hayan City.

They had to drive slowly through the snow and frost that covered the entire city. Dahyun still couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw all those people frozen solid; their eyes wide in horror and fear. According to Jeongyeon, a mega blizzard must’ve been sent by the A.I. in this particular city.

The brunette also explained that the attacks seem to have a pattern of going from North to South, starting from Deus City, then Fragum City, Alben City and now Hayan City. There were only two more cities going south, and if Jeongyeon’s calculations are right, the next calamity will hit the following city soon.

“So a heat wave, a tsunami, a thunderstorm and a blizzard. What shit do you think will come next?” Dahyun asks, trying to kickstart another conversation. The two hadn’t spoken about their emotional moment earlier and figured this really wasn’t the time anyway.

“A sinkhole.” Jeongyeon sinks back to her seat.

“I’m sorry, a what now? A fucking sinkhole?” Jeongyeon turns her laptop screen towards Dahyun again and it shows a running program on her screen.

“I’ve been trying to hack into the Project Zeus servers for the past six months and I got in but with certain restrictions. I can view and run simulations of possible scenarios and so far, there are two that follow the same calamity sequence and right now, both have sinkhole as the next scenario.” The older girl clenches her jaw, frustration evident on her face.

She admits that she’s not as great of a coder as Seungyeon is..

Or was, if her sister was even still alive. And she can’t help but feel helpless. She has been running and hiding for months, and she’s determined to put a stop to all of this.

The two women whip their heads at the same time, when Dahyun’s phone starts to ring.

The younger one quickly takes it out from her coat pocket and sees an unregistered number calling her. She answers, putting it on speaker phone.

“Dahyun? Are you there? It’s me.” It was Namjoon. She breathes out in relief, a small smile making its way to her lips.

“Yeah, I’m here and you’re on speaker phone. I found Jeongyeon and we’re heading to the pier. Well… we’re trying to.” She says.

“Jeongyeon? This is RM. Do you have Hera?”

“I do. I have it with me.”

“Good. Keep it safe and get to the pier as soon as you can. If I’m not yet there when you do, make sure you look for a trailer van with a satellite dish on top. DO NOT give the hard drive to anyone else, unless it’s Kim Seokjin, do you understand?”

“Y-yes. I got it.”

“Good. And Dahyun?” The younger girl doesn’t speak, but feels a knot forming in her stomach.

“I think I already got made. I’m trying to sneak out, but if I don’t make it out you have to make sure that Seokjin gets the hard drive. It’s the only way to shut down Project Zeus.” The blonde feels like she was just doused with ice cold water.

“Namjoon, what do you mean you got made?! Where are you? We can come for yo-“

“NO! You two have to go. You have to put a stop to this, or else Seungyeon died for nothing.” Jeongyeon could feel her stomach drop. She’s gone.

Her sister is gone.

She feels anger envelop her, her eyes heating up from the tears that were forming. Dahyun, on the other hand, could only stare at her in shock and sadness.

“I-I’m sorry, Jeongyeon…” Dahyun says, not knowing whether to reach out to the older girl or not.

“What happened?” The brunette forces out.

A sigh was heard before the man spoke once more.

“She tried to meet up with the higher-ups, to tell them that launching Project Zeus right away is like setting a mass killer on the loose. When they didn’t agree, she stormed out but not before threatening them that she’ll shut him down herself. The last time I saw her, she made me promise to lay-low and remain in the project; be the eyes and ears for the both of us. And if things go worse, to look for you and ask for Hera.” Jeongyeon smooths the palm of her hand over the hard drive case’s surface.

“A couple of days later, I received a text from Seungyeon; her last one to me. She told me they found her and that if she disappears, to go forth with the plan. And she did. I couldn’t contact her anymore after that.” Namjoon explains.

“And what is Hera?”

“It’s the kill code for Project Zeus.”

Something shifts in the look on Jeongyeon’s eyes. She turns to Dahyun, resolute.

“Then we need to get Hera to work, don’t we?”

\---

Dahyun felt proud of herself. She may not be much of an academe person but she knew her terrain. She vividly remembers getting herself this pickup, primarily because she liked to drive off-road and hike during her free time.

Something she cannot get Jeongyeon to do with her before, and now although without much of a choice, she finally got to go off-roading with the older girl. After hearing from Jeongyeon what they were dealing with next, she immediately re-routes them to the edges of Etham City.

She could still feel the earth shifting from under them as the more central parts of Etham City got swallowed by the sinkholes. Her stomach lurches at the thought of thousands upon thousands of people dying, the longer they took to deliver the kill codes.

Dahyun does her best to drive as fast and as safely as she could and finally gets them to Signal City.

\---

Entering the gates of Signal City Pier, Dahyun squints her eyes, trying to find the said van with the big satellite dish on top. But the pier was too big, too wide for her to immediately find it. 

She slams on the brakes, however, when a tall man steps in front of her pickup truck with a shotgun pointed at them. Dahyun hears the man yell at them to get out with their hands up or else he’ll start ‘blasting their brains to kingdom’”.

Jeongyeon looks at Dahyun and they both knew what they had to do next.

With arms raised above their head, Dahyun and Jeongyeon let themselves out of the car slowly.

“Okay, walk towards me. No funny business or I will shoot.” Dahyun didn’t notice it earlier, but the man’s voice definitely quivered as he yelled. It was painfully obvious that he was just as scared as they were, despite his bigger and taller stature.

Walking towards the man, the blonde’s phone rings and making the man in front of them nearly jump from his place. His gaze flits between the two women, whose hands are still raised above their heads. He marches rather quickly up to Dahyun and immediately searches her pockets for the phone.

Jeongyeon immediately takes the opportunity and forcefully kicks the man on his side as soon as the barrel of the shotgun has been pointed away from the two of them. He falls with a loud thud, the gun falling out of his grip.

Dahyun races to pick it up and point it at the man clutching his ribs from the pain. She reaches for her phone and answers it despite the panicked and pleading look on the man’s face before her.

“Hello? Namjoon? We’re here, where are you?”

“I’m right here.” The two women immediately whip their head toward the direction of the voice and sees Namjoon walking towards them.

“Whoever you are, please, you cannot trust him. We need to get out of here” Dahyun swiftly turns around, glaring at the beaten man on the ground. She couldn’t believe what she just heard.

“You have Hera, right?” The blonde hears from the other line and her gaze returns to her brother, coming closer to them. She gulps and sees it too late.

All she can register right now is the searing pain on her shoulder as she falls down to the ground; Jeongyeon rushing to her side.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” She hears Jeongyeon yell at Namjoon who has already swiftly grabbed the shotgun from Dahyun’s limp grip.

“Oh is that a way to greet your girlfriend’s older brother?” He asks with his tone, mocking and playful.

“Fuck you, Namjoon! I trusted you! Seungyeon trusted you!” The man spat out, but still remained on the ground near them. A deep maniacal laughter echoed through the air, followed by a loud grunt as the leather of Namjoon’s shoe met the man’s face.

“And you wonder why you never got out of that shitty cubicle job of yours, Seokjin. You lack ambition.” Dahyun’s jaw clenches at the sight of Namjoon looking down on them, an air of arrogance and evil around him as he pointed a gun at them.

“At least I’m not destroying cities and killing people for money and power!” The man, who Dahyun now finds out to be Seokjin, grits through his teeth. “You’re never gonna get away with this.”

“Oh, but I will.” A sickening smirk graces the man’s lips, making Dahyun want to strangle him right then and there.

“You see, now that Project Zeus has been unleashed, everyone is just scrambling on how to stop it. Every single country around the world, desperate to get their hands on anything that can spare them from being drowned, burnt, or buried to extinction.” Namjoon walks toward Jeongyeon, pressing the end of the barrel on her forehead as he reaches over into her coat pocket, pulling out the hard drive case.

“Surely, they’d offer just about anything to get their hands on this.” He grinned as he walked backwards and away from the three. “Thank you for this, Dahyun. I never really thought I’d find you useful, you know? Good thing you two started dating, and made things a whole lot easier for me.”

“What did you do to my sister, you fucker?!” Jeongyeon once again yells, gripping on to Dahyun and the bullet wound on her right shoulder.

“Oh her? Well.” Namjoon purses his lips, as if in deep thought. “Let’s just say that she put up a pretty good fight. You should’ve seen the look on her face when she saw me in her apartment.” Dahyun feels Jeongyeon’s fists clench, knuckles turning white as angry tears formed in her eyes.

“You really are a fucking monster. I can’t believe this shit.” Dahyun breathes out, her chest starting to numb from the pain. 

“Well, I’m not a complete monster if I’m letting you two spent the remaining-“ he raises his left arm and glances on his watch. “-thirty minutes to kiss and make up before this entire city and pier gets sucked into a tornado and ripped to shreds.”

“You fucking psychopath…” Dahyun mumbles, wincing from the pain. 

“Perhaps I am. But I’m also about to be a very rich AND powerful psychopath. Have fun, kids.” Letting out another laugh, the man begins to walk away, glancing behind him every now and then to make sure no one follows him.

Once he was out of sight, Jeongyeon shifts from her position and lays Dahyun down on the ground. She presses on the gunshot wound with her right hand as she pulls out a handkerchief from her pocket and pressing it on the younger girl’s shoulder.

“Shit, you’re bleeding too much, Dahyun.” Jeongyeon cries out; her eyes watery from all her emotions. She feels the blonde reach for her other hand and hold it firmly.

“But we got him, right?” The younger girl smirks, earning a nod from the sniffling brunette.

Seokjin, who was watching the entire conversation unfold before him, scrambles to his knees and approaches the two girls; confusion evident on his face. “What do you mean you got him?”

“You’re Kim Seokjin, right? You’re the one who knows what to do with this?” Seokjin’s eyes widen as Jeongyeon pulls out from her back pocket, a white hard drive with the name ‘Athena’ written on it. The man breaks into a wide smile as Jeongyeon hands it over to him.

“We need to get to my van, now.”

\---

Taking the wheel in her hands, Jeongyeon drives the van out of the pier and as quickly as she could. Dahyun took the passenger seat beside her, her free arm clutching the additional cloth that Seokjin tossed her way to slow down the bleeding.

The man in question had situated himself in the back of the van, in front of his expanse of monitors and a mobile server; the hard drive booted and counting down to minutes before it begins to shut down Project Zeus and wipe its entire code.

“I know this is an odd time to ask, but why did you trust me instead of your brother?” Jeongyeon asks, her eyes trained on the road in front of her. The younger girl lets out a small chuckle and ends up in a coughing fit, making the older girl step on the gas harder to get to the nearest hospital faster.

“I don’t know. Aside from the things you told me and hearing everything else for myself, I guess deep inside I just kind of knew.” A soft smile graces on Dahyun’s lips, her gaze now on the girl on the driver seat.

As they drove around Etham City, Jeongyeon had revealed the truth about the two hard drives in her possession; the Hera and the Athena drive. On the day of her last phone call from her sister, Seungyeon had firmly asked her to only trust RM if he asks for the Athena drive instead of the other.

It was her last ditch plan should things go awry. And she was right.

“So what exactly was on the other one?” Dahyun asks her.

It was Jeongyeon’s turn to smile at the younger girl, relief washing over her face as she spots a hospital sign ahead.

“All the files about the project, recordings and evidence of the people who forced them to launch it; all to be broadcasted and sent on every active cell phone, tablet, computer and TV stations around the world as soon as they boot and run the drive on their end.” Dahyun whistles, impressed.

“And about your brother…”

“He’s not getting away with it, I promise. I won’t let him.”

“I’m in the A.I. server!” Seokjin hollers, throwing a triumphant fist in the air. The two women smile in relief as they drive up to the hospital’s emergency room. But they know they’re not completely out of the woods yet, and that this was only the beginning of it all.

Jeongyeon immediately gets out of the car, and goes over the other side to help Dahyun. Spotting the two women, nurses and staff from inside run out to help bring Dahyun in the emergency room; Jeongyeon never leaving her side.

“We did it!” The familiar voice of Seokjin echoes through the hallway a few more moments after they get inside.

"The code has been activated. Zeus is shutting down!" Jeongyeon lets out a deep exhale of relief, looking at Seokjin with grateful eyes. Finally the nightmare is over.

"What about Namjoon?" Dahyun asks. Jeongyeon turns to Dahyun, watching her speak as the emergency room staff helped her on the stretcher, the younger girl groaning in pain from all the movement. The former immediately reaches to hold Dahyun’s uninjured hand between hers as the doctor begins to check her.

"It's all over the media and the internet." Jeongyeon says, holding out her phone showing articles upon articles of Namjoon's exposed criminal exploits. "He won't last long before authorities get him. He won't be hurting anyone anymore."

"That's good." Dahyun says weakly, the pain in her gut shooting up again. Jeongyeon's smile falters and squeezes Dahyun's hand.

"What about you?" The girl asks. Jeongyeon raises a brow.

"What about me?"

“You’ll be here when I get out?” Dahyun asks again, somewhat hesitant. 

"Will you stay?"

Jeongyeon places a quick kiss on top of Dahyun’s hand in hers before giving a nod, her heart melting at the pleading voice.

“I will. I won’t go anywhere. Not this time.” The two keep their eyes on each other as the doctor orders for an operating room to be prepped. Even as the younger girl was wheeled away from her, they both looked at the other with this silent form of understanding.

A tight-lipped smile graces Dahyun’s lips as the double doors heading to the operating room closes, separating the two for the first time today. 

The older girl smiles back, one filled with love and certainty, and for the first time in months, Jeongyeon finally feels a sense of peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this story.
> 
> Thank you to my team/collaborators, @ErenSkies_twt and @wanseupanataym. Please check them out on Twitter for their works!
> 
> And huge shoutout to my bro, @Tzucolatecheeks for helping me out as I struggled with the ending.
> 
> See you soon.


End file.
